How to nurse in a dress!

I’ve been thinking about writing this post for ages! I’ve only come across a few dresses I can’t nurse in, but generally I’ve found there are tricks and ways to nurse in virtually any dress.

Here are my tricks when looking at dresses during shopping trips, and a few cheap items you can add to your wardrobe to make the dresses you already have work!

{how most of this post was written; while nursing, in a dress.}

Number ONE tip: TRY IT OUT. Don’t look at a dress and think “I could never nurse in that.” When you are in the dressing room and you try on a dress, any dress! Give popping your boob out the top a go. It sounds weird, because it kind of is, but you would be surprised! Pull the dress neckline gently forward as far as you can, hike it up short short in the back, (it won’t matter, you’ll be sitting when you nurse!) and try to nurse. I guarantee you will be shocked! You would be surprised how much ‘give’ there is to this material if you just give nursing in it a shot, I’ve been shocked many, many times by what is ‘nursable’ even though it isn’t a traditionally stretchy feeling material. For example…

{however, this dress is also a nice one to wear with leggings or jeggings to nurse. Because of the nipped in elastic waist it can almost act as a cover/tent feeling when I nurse by pulling it up, no need for any tank to cover my stomach. Like here!}

The dress doesn’t have much stretch to it at all, but when I pull the dress forward a bit around my neckline before I sit down it raises it up (short!) in the back (but who cares?! I’m sitting!) and gives me enough space to be able to pop my boob out the top and easily nurse in it. Sames goes for this dress;

And this one too;

And here I am nursing in that dress;

Or this dress, below, it is jean material! But if I pull the neckline down and bend over a bit then I can get my boob out and easily nurse (and discreetly with a scarf or in the sling) even though there is almost no give to the high’ish neckline.

Brings me to another tip; SCARVES. Nursing is a time to invest in many, many (like, you can’t have too many and I need ten more), light weight infinity scarves. I was gifted (thanks Mom!) one I adore and it was under $20 and from Brass Plum at Nordstroms (pictured above) and I use that one, and a few others to act as a nursing cover for me when I nurse in a dress. If you are going over the top and are well endowed you will be showing a lot of skin, and if that’s not your thing then using a scarf to help bring a little coverage is easy and still stylish. I like the infinity scarves best because I don’t have to take them off/rearrange it at all I just pull it over and down a bit, not over babies head, just over my exposed skin (like above!). (here is a link to the winter version of my springy one!)

As you can see, I wear scarves with my dresses a Lot;

And, nursing in the dress pictured above;

If high necked and shortish; then add a stretchy little mini skirt underneath to make it easy to lift your dress up as you would any shirt. This skirt cost me $3 on clearance and they always have them in stock and it works really well to add a thick/cozy and non slippy layer to make nursing more discreet and easy!

Here it is making nursing easy and giving a little extra length to my (suddenly short!) dress with my little 17 weeks bump!

And, finally, the obvious tips;

JERSEY. My sister is rolling her eyes right now, but really! There are lots of cute jersey dresses out there and they make nursing so.easy. and when you wash and dry they lose any sort of neck slack you created. Here are some of my easy to nurse in dresses. I look for a nice mid thigh length (I wear leggings under often and then can just lift up, or I use my skirt trick), a fitted silhouette, and not too low of a neckline.

And, also, button down dresses (lots of vintage dresses with that style!) or wrap dresses will forever be nursing friendly. Especially if paired with a light scarf.

Any other tips you seasoned nursers have? I’m wrapping this up more quickly than I planned I have to get back to nursing my around-the-clock-hungry baby!

Here’s my shopping list!

1: Ikat (with black black tights and high high heels this would be an easy way to make a jersey dress holiday party ready!

2. Poetic Shift– This with jeggings and heels, or yellow tights and a mini underneath (this would be a drop the belt and lift the dress kinda nurser) would also be great for a fun friends holiday party or a date day!

3. Darling Stripes – this one looks perfect because it gives the little waist but without a side zip! So again this with a mini underneath, or with leggings would be another great holiday look!

4. Lace Fit and Flare – I’m just kidding. I don’t think I could nurse in this, though I’m up for the challenge. I just want it so bad to wear on a date!

{no affiliate links or compensation, I really do just troll F21 and Nordies too much}

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Comments

Ah! Thank you for this. When I first had my daughter I thought I would never wear dresses again. Now I’m finding exactly this: That dresses are way more forgiving for nursing than you’d think! I have probably worn out the necklines a little too quickly, but I’m no longer relegating myself to “nursing” clothes. I just try it out and make it work. And if I REALLY can’t make it work in a particular dress, I just go somewhere quiet and private and have a moment of just me and baby, which is nice. I love seeing women enjoying their normal fashion while breastfeeding.

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About Autumn!

I am a homeschooling, PNW Mama to two who treks with her kiddos on adventures, and is on a journey to empower, support, and love women through their Radical Self Love journeys. I am a yoga teacher, fitness lover, whole foods (and quite a lot of chocolate) eater, and big advocate for health at all sizes. To learn more about me and our family, and where to find us, check out my About page! For questions or collaborations email me at autumnmeyer25@gmail.com